I'm sure liking this cooler weather. I can still work up a sweat, but it takes a little longer. The country looks so nice with a hint of green yet and folks are still haying everything they can to make up for last year. What a summer it's been.

Lane Scott, 19, from Kennebec, S.D., was badly injured in a car wreck near Hillsboro, Texas, on Sept. 3, and is in the hospital in Waco. Lane is attending Hill College there and rides bulls for the rodeo team, plus is a PRCA permit holder. He has been in an induced coma to give his body a chance to heal, and though he has a lot of injuries, he is holding his own and even improving on some fronts. Naturally, his family is there with him and the traveling back and forth has cost them plenty, besides all of the expense of the hospitalization, so a fund has been set up at the Wells Fargo Bank, Lane Scott Medical Fund, P.O. Box 106, Mission, SD 57555. If you want to send a card or letter to Lane and his family, that address is Lane Scott, c/o Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center, 100 Hillcrest Medical Bldg, P.O. Box 21146, Waco, TX 76712. Your prayers would be greatly appreciated for this nice young man as well.

C & T Rodeo will be having a matched bronc ride in Newcastle, Wyo., on Sept. 21, at the Weston Co. Fairgrounds. The Calcutta will be at 4 and they'll ride at 5 p.m. To enter the bronc riding, call Bill Carlisle at 406-975-6386. There will also be a two member head to head stray gathering in conjunction with the match and for more info or to enter that, call Mac Tooke at 406-975-6288.

There will be a Cowhorse Fundamentals for the Recreational Rider clinic on Sept. 28-29 at the Kirk Hall ranch north of Edgemont, S.D. It starts at 9 a.m. and costs $150 for the weekend. It's suited for riders of all levels. You can call Kirk at home at 605-745-7622 or on his cell at 605-431-3607.

Judge Christina Armijo in New Mexico has told reporters that she has put the processing case on an "expedited schedule" and a decision should be reached in the "coming weeks." With that kind of talking without actually saying anything, I see a bright future in politics for this woman, but that's neither here nor there. Anyway, she was supposed to have made a decision before the end of August so nothing has exactly been "expedited" so far. Valley Meats of Roswell is hanging and rattling until a decision has been made. Responsible Transportation of Iowa withdrew from the horse processing battle and has requested permits to process beef.

Meanwhile, in Washington state, the Confederated Tribes of the Yakama (yes, that's how they spell it) have filed a legal challenge to the USDA's holdup on placing inspectors in processing plants. The fight is also with HSUS as they are the ones who pushed for the injunction that stopped the plants from opening in August. The population of Yakama tribal land horses has exploded to over 12,000 head and the land can only support a couple thousand at most. The tribe has tried giving the horses away but that didn't even work, and now horses are starving and out of water. The tribe would like to send them to be processed rather than see them die of starvation. Of course the anti's are pushing for the horse contraceptive shots which have to be administered annually. Two problems with that: first, the patent on the drug is held by HSUS, and second, birth control won't keep the horses from grazing and does nothing for the already existing population.

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Speaking of tribes, I heard of a hair-raising Indian attack on the wagon train to Medora, N.D. It was reported that 15 or 16 "warriors" swept down on the wagon train and that a person was even abducted off of a wagon, though she was later released unharmed. Eye-witness reports said that the warriors were painted up and had their best horses painted up too and that the whooping and hollering was deafening. I also have it on good authority that the "warriors" were quite pale of skin and face and could have been mistaken for wild young cowboys if they'd have been wearing more cowboy-like clothing. As it were, with dish towels for breach cloths they were adequately covered but risking sunburn to their extremely pale skin. The whole uprising was the brainchild of Medora native Doug Tescher, which shouldn't surprise anyone. He was one of the wild young cowboys in his day! Good fun was had by all and the warriors and their "chief" were delighted with the outcome.

Police at the University of Colorado in Boulder recently arrested a man for drunken horseback riding. The wording of the report didn't clarify if the horse had been drinking too, but I would assume not. I'm thinking the horse was probably in charge of his faculties and should have been left alone to get his merry rider home. There's probably some law that says they can't do that though. What a shame.

Well, that's my circle for this week. Enjoy this great weather and send me any info you can for this column.